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2023 State Volleyball Day Two Highlights

by Nov 2, 2023Preps Volleyball

2023 State Volleyball Day Two Highlights
Photo Credit: Mike Sautter

The quarterfinal round of the 2023 NSAA State Volleyball Championships continued at Pinnacle Bank Arena Thursday and the NEBPreps team has you covered with highlights and standout performers from the Class D2, D1 and C2 matches.

If you missed any of the action from the A, B and C1 quarterfinals, check out day one highlights

CLASS D2

No. 1 Cambridge 3, No. 8 Shelton 1 (25-18, 21-25, 25-15, 25-19)

The underdogs responded from a first-set loss to even the match up with a big win in set two, but the top-seeded Trojans took care of business in sets three and four to pull out the victory.

Junior Erin Johnson led the way with 28 kills, senior Jalen Kent added 20 kills and three aces and senior Brylyn Springer chipped in 10 kills for Cambridge.

Sophomore Jalyn Branson went off for 26 kills and two aces on Shelton’s side while fellow sophomore Erin Gegg added 13 kills.

No. 2 Overton 3, No. 7 Central Valley 0 (25-16, 25-12, 25-12)

The Eagles glided through their quarterfinal match, allowing just 40 points in three sets to advance to the semifinals.

Senior JoLee Ryan led Overton with 21 kills, senior Natalie Wood added 15 kills and senior Ashlyn Florell served up five aces.

No. 5 Wynot 3, No. 4 Wallace 0 (25-22, 25-11, 25-20)

Wynot rode a terrific team defensive performance to a minor first-round seeding upset.

Senior Kenna Oligmueller led the Blue Devils with 14 kills while fellow senior Allison Wieseler chipped in 10 kills. 

The Wildcats struggled to find a source of offense outside of senior Kendyl Flaming who finished with 14 of the team’s 25 kills and served three aces.

The Blue Devils will take on top-seeded Cambridge in Friday’s semifinal, set for 9 a.m. CT at Pinnacle Bank Arena.

No. 3 Meridian 3, No. 6 Stuart 1 (23-25, 25-20, 25-17, 25-21)

The third-seeded Mustangs dropped a deuce game to start the match but rallied to win the next three in impressive fashion and punch their ticket to the semifinals.

The more balanced Meridian attack saw three players crack double figures in kills, whereas two players did the heavy lifting for Stuart.

Senior Jaala Stewart led the way with 16 kills, junior Jaylee Sobotka scored 14 kills and junior McKenzie Hofstetter added 11 kills, six aces and four blocks for the Mustangs.

Senior Lacey Paxton posted a match-high 23 kills and junior Reagan Stracke wasn’t far behind with 20. The duo served up three aces apiece for the Broncos as well.

Meridian will face No. 2 Overton in the 11 a.m. semifinal Friday.

CLASS D1

No. 1 West Point Guardian Angels Central Catholic 3, No. 8 Burwell 0 (25-18, 25-13, 25-21)

GACC got off to great starts in sets one and two (9-2 and 11-3) then finished strong in set three (4-0 run to end it) to complete the sweep and move on to the semifinals.

Sophomore Julianne Ridder led the way with 13 kills while senior Jocelynn Skoda came up clutch, recording the match-point kills in the first two sets and finishing with 12 in all to go with six blocks. Senior Jayden Ehrisman dished out 36 assists and served that final 4-0 run, closing it out with an ace on match point.

No. 7 Elgin Public/Pope John 3, No. 2 Southwest 2 (25-23, 26-24, 23-25, 19-25, 15-10)

The south court proved to be kryptonite for higher seeds as both D1 quarterfinals ended in five-set seed-line upsets.

The 2-7 matchup was a wild one that saw three comebacks for deuce game wins before dominant showings in four and five.

EPPJ surged ahead late to steal set one, then rallied from a 20-13 deficit to win 26-24 (a 13-4 finish) as well. The Wolfpack looked to be cruising to a sweep when they raced out to a 17-7 lead in set three, but the Roughriders weren’t ready to go home. They battled all the way back to win the third then controlled the action throughout game four to tie the match.

The Wolfpack settled back in for game five, however, scoring the first four points and winning eight of the first 10 rallies in all. Southwest cut the deficit down to three at 11-8, but EPPJ closed it out with a 4-2 run.

Senior Ashlynne Charf led the way with 15 kills, junior Chloe Henn added 13 kills with three blocks and junior Sara Bode chipped in 10 kills.

Junior Payton Truska posted a match-high 20 kills. Junior Atleigh Nelms finished with 12 kills while sophomore Kyra Nelms put up 11 kills and 10 blocks.

No. 5 Amherst 3, No. 4 BDS 1 (30-28, 22-25, 25-15, 25-15)

The Broncos started hot in each set (leads of 6-3, 7-3, 7-3, and 7-3 ) and finished the job in three of the four to ground thee Eagles.

Amherst outlasted BDS in a marathon first set as a kill from Keelie Hagan gave the Broncos seed point and a bad set from BDS ended it. The Eagles used a 5-0 run midway through set two to take the lead then fended off a comeback attempt from Amherst late to even the match.

BDS dug itself out of the early hole in set three, pulling within one at 10-9, but the Broncos responded with a 10-2 run to stretch it back out and the fourth set was never close as Amherst rolled to the finish line.

Senior Hannah Herrick led the Broncos with 17 kills and 10 digs while fellow senior Saryn Prickett addd 15 kills and 14 assists for a different kind of double-double. 

Senior Cloey Carlson led BDS with 19 kills, three blocks and two aces while junior Campbell Bohling wasn’t far behind with 18 kills.

Amherst will take on No. 1 West Point GACC in the semifinals on Friday at 9 a.m.

No. 6 Sumner-Eddyville-Miller 3, No. 3 O’Neill St. Mary’s 2 (25-23, 21-25, 16-25, 25-17, 15-6)

SEM stole the first set then nearly pulled off a comeback in set two, but St. Mary’s closed on a 5-2 run and cruised through the third set to take a 2-1 match lead. The Mustangs turned the tables in the third set, however, winning handily to force a game five.

SEM didn’t wast any time in the fifth as the Mustangs raced out to an 8-3 lead and the Cardinals couldn’t find a way to get back into it.

Senior Mikah O’Neill went off for 35 kills to lead the SEM upset, the second-highest total of the quarterfinal round regardless of class, and she also had nine digs and two aces. Sophomore Taryn Arbuthnot added nine kills, eight digs and three blocks.

Senior Mya Hedstrom led the Cardinals with 25 kills while fellow senior Lorissa Reiman added 21.

Sumner-Eddyville-Miller will take on No. 7 Elgin Public/Pope John in the semifinals on Friday at 11 a.m.

CLASS C2

No. 1 Lincoln Lutheran 3, No. 8 Summerland 0 (25-13, 25-11, 25-18)

The two-time reigning champions wasted little time in the quarterfinal, building big leads early in the first two sets before cruising to the finish line. Summerland showed some fight in set three, building a 9-5 lead early, but the Warriors responded with a 16-3 run to bury the Bobcats.

Senior Sophie Wohlgemuth led the Lutheran attack with 17 kills while sophomore Lily Wohlgemuth added 10 kills, 20 digs and two aces. Junior libero Keri Leimbach, a Nebraska commit, was credited with 25 digs and three aces.

No. 2 Clarkson/Leigh 3, No. 7 Crofton 0 (25-21, 25-21, 25-18)

Like Lutheran, Clarkson/Leigh didn’t have much trouble rolling through its quarterfinal match as the Patriots led most of the way.

Junior Chloe Hanel stuffed the stat sheet with 13 kills, 12 digs, three blocks and an ace.

Senior Caitlyn Guenther posted a match-high 14 kills for the Warriors.

No. 5 Elmwood-Murdock 3, No. 4 Yutan 1 (25-22, 24-26, 25-19, 25-16)

The two teams raced hard-fought wins to open the match, but Elmwood-Murdock stepped its game up and controlled the third and fourth sets to knock off the Chieftains.

The Knights built early leads in the first two sets, fending off a Yutan comeback in set one but falling in extra points in set two. With the game tied at 24-all, Elmwood-Murdock hit into the net then sophomore Mylee Tichota blasted a kill through the block to tie the match up at 1-1.

Game three was tight throughout until Elmwood-Murdock pulled away late with a 4-0 run, then the Knights opened game five with an 11-2 surge as the Chieftains dug themselves too deep of a hole to climb out of.

Sophomore Annie Backemeyer led everyone with 22 kills, senior Jordan Vogler added 17 and sophomore Brooke Goudie chipped in 10 including the set-point kill in game three. Senior Tatum Backemeyer was created with 33 digs.

Junior Gabi Tederman led the Chieftains with 16 kills while Tichota added 12 kills and 13 digs.

Elmwood-Murdock will take on top-seeded Lincoln Lutheran at 1 p.m. on Friday.

No. 3 Oakland-Craig 3, No. 6 Humphrey/Lindsay Holy Family 0 (25-16, 25-17, 26-24)

The Knights breezed trough the first two sets then pulled off a comeback in set three to complete the sweep and move on to the semifinals.

The Bulldogs led 21-16 late in set three, looking to extend the match. However, the Knights had other plans, rallying to tie to it up at 23-23 and 23-24. An Oakland-Craig kill gave the Knights match-point and senior Anisten Rennerfeldt capitalized with a great serve the Bulldogs weren’t able to handle. Senior Morgan Ray tapped the overpass down on top of a Bulldog’s head for the win.

Junior Brandi Helzer finished with a match-high 20 kills and three blocks while sophomore Briar Ray added 13 kills for the Knights.

Senior Ali Brandl led HLHF with 10 kills.

Oakland-Craig will face No. 2 Clarkson/Leigh at 3 p.m. on Friday.

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